


Compliments

by vangirl



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Tentacles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-23
Updated: 2011-06-23
Packaged: 2017-10-20 16:01:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/214498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vangirl/pseuds/vangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tear hunches her shoulders up, looking like she wants to hide more than anything else. Then she shrugs the sheet off her shoulders and Luke's eyes go wide.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Compliments

Luke just finished pulling his boots on when Anise opens his door. Without knocking first, as usual.

"Tear hasn't come out of her room yet," Anise says, looking at Luke expectantly. "You need to go check on her and make sure she's okay."

Luke makes a face. "Why _me_?"

" _Because_ , if you were the one to check on her, then you could tell her how much you love her and she'd feel much better!" Anise clasps her hands together and poses in that weird way she does when talking to the Colonel. "It _has_ to be you."

Luke starts tying his boots, frowning deeply. He still hasn't gotten the hang of making the knot on his own yet. "Wouldn't it be better for you or Natalia to go?" He doesn't think Tear would want him to come in while she was changing or anything.

Anise drops the pose, placing her hands on her hips and sighing heavily. "Just go check on her, Luke."

"All right, fine." Luke finishes and stands up. "I'll go." He frowns. "And stop looking at me like that."

Anise giggles but doesn't stop grinning at him.

She is so weird sometimes.

\---

Luke knocks on the door, shifting on his feet a bit. It was a lot easier to think of what to say when he was downstairs. "Ah, Tear? Are you still in there?"

There's shuffling on the other side. Then, someone stammers back, "I-I'm fine!"

Even he can tell that's a lie. "Are you sure? You don't sound fine."

"I'm fine," Tear repeats, though Luke still doesn't think she sounds very sure.

"Then I can come in, right?"

He hears more shuffling, then the lock turns. "You can come in," she says, not sounding any better.

Luke hesitates, not wanting to push it. After a second, he turns the doorknob and steps inside, closing it behind him. Tear has a blanket over her shoulders, clutched tight around her like she's cold. "Are you sick?"

Tear swallows hard and looks down, away from him. "I…It's possible that I'm, unwell."

"Jade's a doctor, right? Maybe he can-"

" _No_!"

That makes Luke jump. "A-all right, we won't tell Jade then."

Tear's looking back up at him, kind of. She keeps glancing away. Luke doesn't think he's seen her this nervous before. "I…I would rather he not know. For now, at least."

"Then he doesn't have to know, for now." He reaches to scratch the back of his head, feeling pretty awkward himself. "Is it okay if I know?"

Tear hunches her shoulders up, looking like she wants to hide more than anything else. Then she shrugs the sheet off her shoulders and Luke's eyes go wide.

Two long, pink tentacles grow from her back, swishing around to a breeze that isn't there. Tear clasps her hands tightly, looking at him like she's waiting for him to say or do something, though he doesn't know what.

"They're not too bad," Luke blurts out. "They're kind of…" Her tentacles stop swishing and he starts to feel like _they're_ waiting on him too. "Cute. I think."

Tear relaxes and her tentacles start swishing and wiggling again, looking much happier than they were before. At least he thinks they're happier, he just said they were cute after all. "R-Really?" She pauses a bit. "Are you sure?"

"I'm plenty sure." He's not really lying now either. They seem a bit less weird, and Anise has her weird dolls and they're still cute right? "I mean, unless you don't like them…"

Tear frowns a bit. "I don't." Her tentacles start to droop, suddenly not so happy anymore.

There doesn't seem to be anything he can say to that. Cautiously, he reaches out and touches one, and it squirms a bit at that. It feels smooth and soft so he gives it a stroke and it squirms even more.

And Tear's squirming a bit too. "L-Luke?"

Luke grins at her. "See? They're not that bad. I only ever got zit and they were always just gross."

Tear makes a face, staring at him a moment. "Zits are _normal_ , Luke."

"And tentacles are _cool_." Not that it's much harder to be cooler than zits, but he won't mention that.

That makes her other tentacle wiggle around proudly, or as proudly as tentacles can wiggle at least. The one he's stroking wraps around his wrist, holding onto him though not very tightly. Tentacles must like compliments.

Tear shakes her head, but she smiles anyway. "You idiot."

Luke smiles and gives the tentacle one last stroke before he pulls his hand back. It squeezes his wrist for a second, but lets go. "If you still feel weird about them, we can find something to cover them." He would offer his jacket, but he doesn't think it would really hide anything. Especially not anything that wiggles.

Tear nods. "That would probably be best." She frowns slightly. "It'll look suspicious if I were to start wearing a cloak though."

Luke frowns, scratching his neck as he thinks. "Maybe…" Then he grins. "I got an idea! Wait right here!"

Tear blinks. "Um, all right."

He opens the door and rushes down the stairs. The market isn't too far from here.

\---

"That's an elegant rappig, Tear," Jade says with a grin. "I take it you took your fashion advice from Anise?"

Tear adjusts the stuffed rappig on her shoulders. "It was Luke's idea, actually."

"Is that so?" Jade turns his gaze to Luke, and his grin becomes a smirk. "You youngsters are so _creative_ when it comes to courtship."

Anise smiles and clasps her hands together, doing that weird pose again. "Isn't it just _romantic_?"

Luke scowls. "You guys are seriously obnoxious sometimes."

The rappig on Tear's shoulder lifts a hoof and she quickly puts a hand over it. "We should get going."

Jade raises a brow. "Of course. You two lovebirds should lead the way."

Luke rolls his eyes but starts walking anyway. Tear hurries to walk in line with him and quietly whispers, "Thank you, Luke."

He smiles a bit and whispers, "No problem," back and doesn't say anything more.

The others are already whispering like crazy behind them.


End file.
